December 2020 WPForum NEWS

WPForum NEWSDecember 2020A publication of Women’s Professional ForumMembers OnlyDECEMBERANNUAL BUSINESSVIRTUAL MEETINGWednesday Dec. 912:30 to 1:30 pmZOOM & FacebookPLEASE NOTE!Look for specialregistration instructionsfor our December virtualmeeting on page 4.You’ll need to registeron Zoom & to a privateFacebook Group for aspecial holiday surprise!DATES TO REMEMBER!12/23.News DeadlineHappyHolidays!Reflections on an Unprecedented YearA message from WPF President, Adrienne JandlerWhat a year it’s been! I can say with certainty, it has not been the year I’dplanned for my Presidency of WPF, and yet through all the challenges, it hasshown me (perhaps you, too) what a remarkable sisterhood we share. I’ve seenthat we are resilient, creative, and flexible. Despite significant challenges, we bandtogether to find solutions; the bonds of our friendships are strong, our care for each other is deep, andtogether we truly can make an impact on each other and our communities.As I write this, on the heels of Thanksgiving, I am deeply grateful for all of you, and for the joy andprivilege of serving you and WPF as your President this year. I’m also especially thankful for the manysisters who rolled up their sleeves to ensure WPF’s success in 2020.A huge thanks to our dedicated Special Interest Group chairs, who were both flexible and creativein planning ways for us to continue to enjoy activities together safely. The monthly meetings are thefoundation of our organization but getting involved in the SIGs is where our friendships grow. Manythanks to the awesome SIG chairs who made it happen for us: Nicole Hayes, Terri Harris, Rebecca BenGideon, Kris Landrum, Michele Smith, Sandy Doyle-Jones, Peggy Ward, Mebane Ham, Kim Trone, PollySizemore, Amy Meinecke, and Marlee Foster.This year’s Board has worked hard behind the scenes to ensure we moved forward despite thechallenges of the pandemic. Thanks to their efforts, and that of their committees, we have: continued key growth and improved operations throughout the shutdown, including inducting a fullmembership class and virtual hosting of small group dinners. improved our organizational infrastructure with the implementation of a new CRM platform for bothWPF’s and WPFF’s use. approved 2 new SIGS: Devoted to Diversity and Sippin’ Sisters. unanimously approved the release of a board statement, written in solidarity as an organization,to denounce the horrific murder of George Floyd, and formally and unequivocally state WPF’srepudiation of racism. donated our (budgeted, but unused) meeting funds to provide direct support to local nonprofitsactively helping those impacted by COVID. Five contributions were made, in addition to acontribution to the WPFF, in lieu of being able to hold the Bazaar. (See p.2 for details on thecontributions.) provided funds to assist with 2021 dues for WPF members directly impacted by COVID.Many thanks to our 2020 Board: Ashley Wigglesworth, Amy Baradell, Erica Parker, Christie Soper,Erin Bailey, Melanie Tuttle, Brook Wingate, Cecelia Anderson, Hollie Shelton, and Susan Russell. I have toespecially thank Board member and Immediate Past President, Anne Smith, who was always just a phonecall away with excellent guidance and support.Staying connected also requires being kept well informed so we know what is happening and when.Nobody has done a finer job of keeping communication flowing than Beverley Gass, Altina Layman, andPat Arnett. Beverley’s News of Our Sisters has helped us share the joy of personal celebrations, as well assupport each other through the sorrows of losses and challenges. Altina has created beautifully designednewsletters for us, as well as serving as our technical director for the monthly Zoom meetings. Pat hasdone a great job keeping us organized throughout the chaos of this year and helped us seamlessly shift tomeeting together online.Most of all, I am thankful for you. Thank you for being a member, for sharing yourself at a time whenwe’ve all been stretched, and for continuing to participate actively even when it meant enduring anotherhour of Zoom. I’m thankful we have made it through a very challenging year—together, stronger.This month, we’ll celebrate the end of the year, the strength of our sisterhood, along with our annualbusiness meeting. We’ll also feature a special guest to lighten our spirits for the holidays. I look forward toseeing you there, online! AdrienneWPForum News December 20201

News from the WPF Board of DirectorsStaying Strong Amid Challenges in 2020Your WPF Board of Directors worked swiftly to support our members and community through each of the initiatives below:WPF DIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS TO COVID RELIEFThe pandemic deeply impacted some of our most vulnerable neighbors. From food insecurity to the immediate shift to onlineschooling (with many students lacking laptops to be able to adequately participate), need in our community was great.WPF saw an opportunity to help by contributing to local nonprofits that directly worked to assist those impacted by COVID. Sincewe were not incurring the (already budgeted) expense of meeting at Starmount during shelter-in-place, we decided to contributethe meeting funds to select, vetted nonprofits providing immediate COVID relief. The contributions made were:Backpack Beginnings (April) . 2,226Guilford Education Alliance (May) . 2,226Second Harvest Food Bank (June). 2,226WPF Foundation (July) . 2,000Guilford Education Alliance (August) . 2,000Out of the Garden Project (September) . 2,000Total donated: . 12,678ALLOCATION MADE TO AVERT DUES INCREASEStarmount Forest has been a wonderful partner to WPF and has honored a better-than-competitive rate for our lunches for years.Starmount needs to increase our fees to more fairly align with costs and going rate; they have agreed to do so incrementally. Assuch, our costs per person will increase next year. Due to the pandemic, the Board did not want to increase our dues at this time.As such, and because we are closing the year below budget, the Board has allocated funds to cover the heightened costs in lieu of adues increase for 2021.COVID ABATEMENT FUNDS ESTABLISHED FOR 2021In recognition that some members may have experienced job loss or significant cuts in salary due to the pandemic, the Board hasestablished a COVID Abatement fund. The fund will provide partial assistance with 2021 dues upon statement of need. The fundswill be available upon application on a first come, first served basis. Additional details on the application process will be madeavailable in early 2021.2020 WPF Board of DirectorsAdrienne Jandler, PresidentAshley Madden, President ElectAmy Baradell, First Vice PresidentErica Parker, Second Vice PresidentChristie Soper, SecretaryErin Bailey, TreasurerMelanie Tuttle, Membership ChairBrook Wingate, Programs ChairSusan Russell, Foundation PresidentCecelia Anderson, Director at LargeHollie Shelton, Director at LargeAnne Smith, Past President &Nominating ChairPat Arnett, Administrative AssistantWPF is committed to supporting andendorsing equal opportunities for allpeople without regard to race, color,religion, gender, sexual orientation,national origin, age, disability orgenetics.Happy Holidays!WPForum News December 20202

WPF Annual Business Meeting, December 912:30 - 12:55 pm on ZoomEach December WPF holds our Annual Business Meeting to recap the year, for both the Forum and the Foundation,and to hold our annual elections. New Board and Committee members will begin their service in January. Below are our 2021 nominees:2021 WPF Board & Committee NomineesPresident .Ashley MaddenPres Elect . Amy Baradell1st Vice President . Cecelia Anderson2nd Vice President .Erica ParkerSecretary .Melanie TuttleTreasurer . Kris LandrumMembership Committee Chair . Sue SchwartzMembership Committee Chair Elect .Tameka HowellMembership Committee . Margaret KantlehnerProgram Committee Chair .Anne BrownProgram Committee Chair Elect. Janice LanierProgram Committee . Dawn KaneDirector at Large .Dede PotterDirector at Large . Jody SusongNominating Committee Member .Lisa DamesNominating Committee Member .Jennifer MencariniBoard Designated Positions Not ElectedTreasurer Elect . Lauren CoxPast President & Nominating Committee Chair .Adrienne Jandler2021 WPF Foundation Board NomineesThe following individuals have been nominated to serve three-year terms beginning January 2021.Kim Cummings .Second Full TermJean Pudlo.Second Full TermSusan Russell .Second Full TermPhyllis Lancaster .First Full TermChandra Cherry.First Full TermDee Blake .First Full TermFrenesa Hall* .One Year Term* Nominated to fill a vacancy for the remaining year of a resigned board members term.Special Holiday Entertainment!FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO JOIN US ON FACEBOOK, see page 3!YOU MUST “join” a private Facebook Page to view this special entertainmentAfter our business meeting, we’ll move over to Facebook for time with motivationalspeaker Kelly Swanson. Kelly is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivationalspeaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television showairing on Amazon Prime. She is also author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, TheStory Formula, and The Gutsy Girls Pocket Guide to Public Speaking. She was a featured entertainer for Holland America CruiseLines, keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention, and has keynoted major conferences and corporateevents from coast to coast.WPForum News December 20203

Instructions for joining ourDecember Annual Meeting & Special EntertainmentWe’re looking forward to seeing you at our December monthly meeting on December 9, 2020.We will begin promptly at 12:30, so please be sure to be logged in prior to 12:30!We’ll be having our Annual Business Meeting on Zoom AND then enjoying some special entertainment– but it will require us to do some jumping around on the internet!HERE’S HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR DECEMBER VIRTUAL MEETING1. NO LATER THAN MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, register to attend the WPF Annual Meeting on Zoom by clickingthis link: Register Now Once you register, you’ll receive the Zoom link.2. NO LATER THAN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, ask to join the private Facebook group for a watch part by goingto this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wpfdec93. On WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9 at 12:20pm go to Zoom using the link you received after registering4. At 12:55, leave Zoom and go to this FB link for the watch party: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wpfdec9 Ifyou’re comfortable having two browser windows open on your computer, you could login to the Facebook pagebefore 12:55 - but minimize the page until our Annual Business meeting concludes. This will help with the trafficgoing into the FB private group – so thanks in advance to anyone who can do this.Questions? Email Altina at altina.layman@gmail.comHelp the WPF Foundation & give a great gift to loved ones!Although we are not having the Holiday Bazaar this year, there is still asmall thing you can do to get gifts checked off your list and still help theFoundation! Through the Community Partners program with Our Statemagazine, you can gift the magazine to friends, family, and neighborsand they will in turn give 5 for each subscription back to the Women’sProfessional Forum Foundation! Go to www.ourstate.com and use codeCP651! Tell your friends – anyone who uses that code for a subscription will be helping us.WPForum News December 20204